Process of manufacturing illuminating-gas.



36.334.241 PATENTED 001110.19061 w. H. ADAMS a; P. POWELL.

.PROCESS fr MANUFACTURING ILLUMINATING GAS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 18, 1904.

ftilledzfromfthe coalg .materialsunust be used `for these,

o qll/.0721, f concern:

Ai.' auf: knownthatwe, WILLIAM H. ADAMs and FREDERICK POWELL,Y citizens of the ;g ,ffU' i'iit.e d States, resid-ing in Portland7 in the y51.countymfMultnomah and State of Oregon, "haveeinvented anew and useful Improvement .fifin.Processes of Manufacturing Illuminating- Gas\,.o.flwhich thefollowing is a speciication. In-xfthe: generation of what is known as ro vfcoal-gas.g.the modern t e of apparatus 1 f -.used-r consists, essentially, o a fire-brick fur- ...nace-,into which are built several fire-clay '1"..-:=.1","etor.tsl.- Iv Aroundthese retorts avery hot ire is kept burning. The retorts are filled I 5v "sealedaduringthe 4eriod of firing, exceptas arto-',onexzoutletf t `e escape of the gasv dis- The best class of fire- V esisting zu' Iietorts,tand:thewear-and tear on them Isexfzrncessive because -`they are subject to great changesof temperature between the time of charging.them with coal and the time of gli .highest heating,when the last distillates are I fdriven-oi.l .The varying changes oi temperav.turewitlun.the retort result in the formation oftars .and vwateryproducts, (ap roximately A.one-'tou twogallons 4per thousan -feet of gas f-is'- 'manufacturedl) e "IVI-here is also av consider- -ablmpercentageof gas wasted in leaks and duringrhangesof the parts while feeding :coal fand? removing coke, so thatithe process has always been an. uncertain and expensive if oneand .notwithstanding its superiority as "351' an illuminantthasbeen supersededto a large n'extentrby the. cheaper so-called water-gas.

" -'f-0ur invention is `intended to supply a less' 'expensive and generally useful' process for -the1nanufacture 'of illuminating-gas, using "hanI zclassfof fuel ,wh ich contains sufficient `l`'f-voatilei,.hydrocarbon, preferably the culm eoals,.f peat, Ivsawdust,

bituminous coals,"- as we l as crude oil, as-

A, lish the distillation ofthe gasproducing pe ements and make them into impleJffifIhei.process being practically con- "ftinuouaueavoid.the destructive changes 1n i "UNITED sTAriEs With';v bituminous coal and are hermetically` i nites, cannel andl y"iXedLga's by` a process that is continuous and v 1 vwhich the old style retortsl PALTENT OFFICE.

y.,g, jffAij-AMS AND FREDERICK POWELL. (iF-PORTLAND. OREGON, .Slcju'ons yTWENTY Five ONE HUNDREDTHS frifEfifEuN Onu-.Humanities 5ICLJMSAII) POWEnn'AN- D TO SAID. ADAMS,

SIXTY] `ONE- UfNDnuDfrus To THE YLADDy MITrAL's `COMPANY?A?CORPORATION` OF Bb'irss OF MANUFACTURIG. ILLUMINATING-GAS. l

Patented Oct. 30, 1906.

areisubject and avoid also the loss of gas. and the loss of time `in emptying and recharging them. We make none of the usual byproducts of the gas process except a small amount of fixed carbon deposited on the inside of the retorts in the form of a purev coke.

the purpose of finally decomposing any water-vapor into Water-gas and carbonio acid, if' any, into carbon monoxid.

We make use of a new form of generator in the ractice of our recess, the construction of W ich will be un ersto'od from the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a vertical section on the line A B of Fig. 2, and Fi 2 is a horizontal section on the line C D of ig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical section on line M M ofv Fig. 1. I

The chamber Pof the generator is preferably of elliptical shape and is .elongated at the base just above the grate T,.so as toform an increased area at the zone of combustion, In this manner we insure an additional 4mass of fuel in this zone, which we iind desirable to thoroughly decompose the products of combustion. Y

The fuel is admitted to the chamber of thef generator b the feed device S, theoperation of which wi l'be understood. It consists, essentially, ofa cylindrical casing O, with openings at the top and bottom. Inside of this casing and itting it closely is a cylinder in which are pocketsL, which iill with fuel when they are under the upper opening and discharge when they come to the `lower opening in the casin VThis cylinder is made to revolve by su table gearings. It thus introdi'ices fuel into ing the escape of gas except the smal amount unavoidably iilling the pockets from which the fuel has discharged itself.

S" represents a valved'- feeder throug which liquid hydrocarbons maybe admitted" to the generator for. enriching the gas.

A water-seal ash-pan is shown at V, and

the generator, while revent- A portion of this coke may be used in the lowest and hottest tier of retorts for IOO zo Series of communicatingretorts.G,=which are arranged transverselyof awhamberFin sucln 3o heataereated. .T

' 1n cham-.berFsf r,

4o flames keptburning; attthese -jets formvivndif'.

Thevg'enerator P is -lirst iilledvtosul'licient' 5o liglt ed .through the ?I across .thevlower-.portion of the generat or,l igihiting the fuelupzto the top. of the-outletiX,

.inlet W. l through the portion of the 'grate described pass at first u Ward and then horizontally to- "u) and fronrthe portion of the-igratey supplied W is' an additional air-inlet forisupplyingi through that portion of the grate immediatelyibelowthe pc` rtsw,'vv .l l. n

iN is -a Vvertical diaphragm pla'eedtransvversely across the bottom-ofthe 'generator below the grate and extenlirnr 'downward into the Water in the aslbpan. This diaphragm limits thearea 'of the. grate throughy whic the air and-steam are applied` byl the.

The air andV steam adi'n'itted Ward the out et Xin the same-manner as the air from the 'sid'eginlets y p 'Z- re nesents. astea1n-inlet enteriingfthe air piper ia point lcl'ose tothe Igenerator, and Y'repr'esents-pokesholes. l i

. Eis a pi @leading from theitopand. interior.` part'zol'thergenerator into .the lirstof =a manner 1as .to-.be cheated; by the roducerfgias i which-I enters \the'.' bot-torn I of t iechan1ber= throughlthe `p assagleX., Throughthe ypipe E allthe gas Whiehforins 1in the topfof thel gelb` erat'o1.1P` and; Whiehis substantially free from air-sor products fof :combustion is driven! by thefpr'essure in thegenerator int-o thefretorts G and theres litlaip into-fixed.l gasee bythe. liy combustion of produ i nr-Jga's I is ayalye ilegal-ating the ilow .threughsthe pipe E'. The fixedgas inaderin retorts G is 'thenpassed through pipe-H to serubbersand purifiers-in the u-sualrnanner.:v

e`J andJK-vare sinallpipes with suitable tips'v formin ygas-.j ets connect ed,respeetivcly, with. theaout et: 1X forproducer-.gas and. thetop` off thel :generator i -for illuminating-gas. Smallcators which show at` all tiines the quality of gases leayingthe:generatorJ y Our practicev .in .makingI illuminating-gas With\,the :described apparatus is as follows: y

heightab'oye the grat.e, wvith.Wood to act as kindlingny .v On top` of thisais .ad ded sufficient fueliof any character to bring theflevel some-v what aboyethelevel of outlet X. Theiire-s Y okefholes.andinoreased. by'i a gentle. blast .or liy natural draft through All ,openings in the topi 'ofthe?. generator are thenclosed substan-A tially'. air-tight: TheY lire quickly spreads.

.shown bythedottedlines radiating from by w.V As soon asthis isaccomplished afrege 'steadyy output .of gas can be maintained.

Thevl formant .the `generator,- the points iat. which the blast is applied, and theposition of produced by the blast is limited substantially tothe zoneindicated by the dotted linesand extending from the grate up to the plane of the top4 ol'- the Ioutlet X. 'lhewtoinbustion 'carried on in ythiszone-results in th'e'generw' tion of through t ie outlet `X and is bur-ned -in the chamber F, as described below. llt will be seen at .once that this limitationy of thecoinbastion to the space between the grate and the top of the outlet X divides the space within the enerato'r into two separate and substantially vdistinct zones, the lower of which we have described as the zone wherein conibustion takes placer Tl1eupper -zone is the zoneof distillation.

- The. -fueli .inl vthe zone. -of distillation. lying immediately upon thezfuel whichfis inastate of .combustione is heated and subjected to the saine acti-on .as fthe coal in the.4 retort of the gas.-v bcneh.- Its i volatile.: 4constituents are drivenoll vin thed-ormaof gas, tar, and Water-1 vapori .These products `of distillation. (iden-l tical wibhthosewformedin ther-retort): are rek'A vmoved. as fasti .as generated through the out let .E and constitute, wheniproperl-y" purified,-

illuminating+gas.'.

It is ob-.viousith'ati'a regulation oluthe vol-1 uinefof gas reinouevd through theipiped. is required to .avoidn on` the one handgaanoutllow in excess ofthe quantitgs reduced by disftillat'ionfwhichfwouldiresu t. in the entrance of some of theiproducer-gas'rornthe conibus. tion' zone .into the iupper (portion:A of 'the A geneerat or` and oni the other hand, i an. insull lioie'nt .outletl for these distillation iroduets which. would :oauselsonie ofthe; ric i. ilhnninating.- Vgas .to .beforceddownward "into the zone 'of combustion,x thereby enriching; the producen gas .escapingythrouglr the outletaX .at the expense of ai portion of the illuminating-gas;.

thefflowthroughtheoutletE, t ieitwoqetsfef gas .are .kept burning, one taking. prod ucer- `gee rom'the .outlet X the-otherf front theitop of .the-generation Any-loss of illuminatingjgasis at=onoeiindcated by .the color-.ofthe llame..ofvpioducer-gas and .any contamina.- ti'oni of the illuminating-gas by thel reducergas-Jisat'once indicated by the wea ieningof the .otherfflame It would seem at lirst glance. that? .the proper regulation.. of -themutf letnE .in f order to carry out this process would. require the Y lgreatestl Watchfulness on the ipartof the operator` .and great 'skill tfo def teot the irstE indication of thepresenoeof proa rincer-.gas in the illuminatingfgas. ln actual operation, however, this .is Very simple. So. long as the llame of the illuininatingegas shows Athe necessaryquality of gas fory the purpose. required viz., ,illuminationr-the flowfis allowed to continuezthrough theiout letE. Wh'enthe quality of the lgas goes below i a certain determined standard apparent the outlet X are such that .the combustion.

to :the eye, theoutletis reduced bypartially producer-gas which is removed- IOO lclosing the valve I until lthe flame againshows the re uired quality, o r by the addition of volat'i e hydrocarbons in the lforni of practically uniform feed 'of fuel through the mechanical feeder S and a periodical shaking of the grate-bars `make the process continuous y and always under easy control of the operator.

The gasdistilled from the fresh fuel in the zone of distillation identical with that obtained from fuel of. the same character when heated in the closed retorts of the gas-bench contains o r is accompanied by watery vapors and tars and consists partly of hydrocarbons condensable at ordinary temperatures into tarry compounds. if i passed at' once to scrubbing-towers, these condensable'hydrocarbo'ns, as Wellas the heavier tars and the water-vapor would be at once removed; but by passing them while still hot through redhot retorts lthe distillation ofv these compounds is completed, .converting them into `permanent or fixed ases. These retorts are e'pt. at a constant 'gh temperature by the combustion of the producer-gas generated in. the lower zone of the a paratus. This constant temperature ena les .us to use simple cast-iron pipes for this purpose. These are set in a brick combustion'- chamber with posited carbon is faclitated. The particu-' -lar`form o f retort shown is only one ofa number'of forms that may be used for the purpose described.v

' As a precaution against the passage of any watery vapors through the retorts l or any carboiiic acid contained in any-producer-gas that .may get into the 'upper part of the generator and passover with the illuminatinggas vone or twoof lthelast retorts in the series may be-lled with the broken pieces of .carbon orv coke removed from the surface, of

theretort.. .This becomes incandescent, and

"by its action in Ithis condition on the. watervapor and -carbonic acid theyare decomposed into hydrogen and carbonio oxid. After' assing throu h the retorts the gas is passe through scru bers and urifiers in the usual manner, but with smal er loss inthe *form of tar l`and condensable hydrocarbons than in the case of the old retort. process.

The Waste heat from the retort-chamber is used for making steam for operating the machinery of the plant-viz., the feeder, blower, and .any conveying or elevating machinery .required Therey will always be an excess 'of the reducer-fas above what is ref uned. to

heat the retorts. Thus a by-product ,created which may be used for heating, power, and other purposes and considerable revenue be derived thereby.

It will be readily understood by one skilled in the art of making illuminating. as that your process in a generator oi thev iorni scribed constitutes a continuousdistillation process equivalent. m results to a continuous retort process, that any class of fuel may be used for pu oses of combustion in the lower zone, and t at any of the distillates of petroleum,rich hydrocarbons, cannel coals, o r fat bituminous coals can be used to furnish the desired illuminante. The combustion of the fixed. carbon elements of the fuel in the lower zone-the zone ofconibustion--supplies the heat'whereby the volatile constituents are expelled from the fuel in' the upper or zone olfr distillation immediately above, and. vthese crude products or distillation are inally lined and the distillation oil the tars is `cc'impleted lin the retorts heated by the produ'cer-gas,nirade in the lower zone of the gencrater.` At the saine time the water-vapor oiv the fuel instead of being condensed is converted into Water-gas by passage through the hot retorts. Of course it lwill be understood that between the purifiers and the gasholder an exhaustei may be introduced, as in common practice, to draw the gas from the retorts through the scrubbers and purifiers and :force it into the holder. This kee s up the'liow of gas through the pipe E and t e valve l. ends exposed,so that the-removal of the de- We claimi L l.- The improvement in the manufacture .of illuminating-gas consisting in establishing a horizontal zone of combustion in alongv horizontal-body of fuel, and a zone of distillation above the zone of'coinbustion, vthe products of -the two zones being removed separately, the outiow of\ the distillation products being regulated in accordance with the 'color of the `two products when burned.

2. The improvement in the process of IlO IIS

manufacturing illuminating-gas consisting in forming producer-gas and .distillation-gas from a body of fuel,'separating the producergas from t e distillation-gas and regulating the outflow of the-gases in accordance with the color of the two roducts when burned.

W LlLAiVi H. ADAMS.

Witnesses:

ZERA SNOW, S. L. BRENNAN.

FREDERICK POWELL. 

